Long, large diameter hoses are used by most fire fighting services. Between uses, the hose is typically stacked and stored within a fire truck bed for rapid deployment. However, after each use, the lengthy hose almost always contains entrapped air which hinders storage. Furthermore, the inflated hose can easily become entangled and difficult to deploy, thereby contributing to loss of life and/or property. Additionally, precious storage space is needlessly occupied resulting in smaller hoses being transported on the vehicle. Accordingly, there is currently a need for a device that allows air to be quickly evacuated from a fire hose. A review of the prior art reveals a myriad of hose evacuating and drying devices. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,246 issued to Horton discloses a pressure coupling that allows an air pump to be connected to a water faucet to expel water from lines connected thereto.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,328,058 issued to Perrone, Jr. discloses a hose clearing device having a compressed air receiving valve and an attachment means for securing the valve assembly to a tube.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,845,779 issued to Greene, Jr. discloses a garden hose evacuating device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,763 issued to Hafrenrichter et al. discloses an apparatus for drying fire hoses.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,191,722 issued to Nayyar et al. discloses a method and apparatus for drying fire hoses.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,591,744 issued to Peek discloses a wheeled squeegee for a fire hose.
None of the above referenced patents disclose a device that is uniquely designed to evacuate air from fire hoses. The present invention addresses this problem by providing a uniquely designed attachment that allows a vacuum source to be coupled with a fire hose to quickly and conveniently remove air from the hose after each use.